PLEASE Support our Vendors who make reproduction items

[caraholic4life]

I am offering my OPINION here. This is simply my thought on the subject based on what I have seen in the past regarding reproduction items.
(I posted this on another Corvair site and thought to cut and paste it here as well)

In the 45 plus years that I have been associated with the Corvair, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of owners are not frugal with their budget, but cheap and refuse to spend fifty cents for a dollar's worth of anything related to the vehicle they own.

I have seen reputable Corvair vendors that have gone to the effort and expense of bringing an item to market, only to have the inventory sit on the shelf unsold for years. In many cases the sales likely do not recover the production and warehousing costs and additional runs are never made.

Many of us (myself included sometimes) have been so spoiled by the availability of inexpensive or free replacement used parts that we now complain about the price of a reproduction part.

What I am once again saying is that we as a group need to fully support those that make the effort to develop and offer replacement items for our vehicles.

When anyone decides to venture into the viability of reproducing any item for a vehicle of any make or model, they must decide if sales of the project will recoup the actual costs of research, development, and production costs as well as warehousing it until the inventory can be sold.

The decision to make only one production run or continuous run would be based on the need for continuing sales for the item. After all, most folks would like to make an acceptable return on their investment. It is not often that someone ventures into such a project when the demand is extremely low, or when it is possible they might not break even on actual expenses unless they are a true enthusiast with the disposable income and want to help out others.

Example: I own a newer vehicle that had a production run of under 12,000 vehicles over a five year production run. These vehicles were mostly assembled by hand and had quite a few unique items. Some of the items unique to the vehicle is the upper & lower radiator hoses, heater hoses, fuel pumps, rear brake rotors and more. Due to the low production numbers of the vehicle, there were not any aftermarket vendors like Gates, Dayco, Goodyear, that ventured to make aftermarket parts available for us.

There have been a couple individuals that have stepped up and sourced replacement parts in small quantities for our vehicles. In this case the owners were for the most part happy the parts were being made at any cost and supported the process from day one for these essential replacement parts.

The subject of reproduction F.C. rubber mats has recently (on another Corvair site) been a topic of discussion and the catalyst for my post. I decided to start a new topic so that discussion wouldn't get off track.

While I do not currently own a F.C. Corvair, I agree that reproduction mats would be nice to have available. I would imagine that the number of folks willing to purchase such an item would be limited to a small percentage of owners. If I was in need of such an item, I would be happy if it was available at all even if it seemed a bit expensive and maybe only available in one color.

We have one or more Vendor's that already offer rubber mats for the passenger cars in multiple colors. The potential sales for these items is likely much better than for a F.C. vehicle yet I suspect that the sales of these passenger car mats barely justifies the cost and effort to produce and warehouse them.

My questions to you all are these.

How many of us have actually purchased reproduction Corvair specific rubber floor mats for your passenger car?

How many of you see that these mats are available and want a set but are holding off on purchasing a set for some reason?

Who would be upset if they were about to order a reproduction item only to discover it has been discontinued for any reason?

Have you ever fully encouraged a vendor here to move forward to reproduce an item then did not follow through with a purchase for any reason?

While it is nice to have vendors that are dedicated to reproducing items for our vehicles, we must make an effort to support them to the best of our ability.

If we do not support our vendors and or complain about the prices they charge, how can we expect them to step up and reproduce any new items for our vehicles.

I learned something many years ago when it comes to our hobby.
If an item we need or want is available at any price, it is usually worth it.
If an item we need or want in unavailable, it is usually worth more!

Please discuss this among yourselves.

When you get the chance, maybe it would be beneficial to acknowledge the effort of our vendors and Thank them once in a while in writing, in person, or by purchasing items from them.

[bbodie52]

I completely agree! Local vendors may carry a few Corvair items, but their retail market is wide and is supported by many car owners. Corvair specialists focus on the right parts for your aging Corvair, and often carry a wide range of parts not found in many local parts stores. (Even if a local store can get the Corvair part you need, they often will have to special order it from a central warehouse, adding shipping delays to obtaining the part).

Long-time Corvair specialists like Clark's Corvair Parts focus on the Corvair only. Without them our Corvair maintenance and restoration efforts would almost be impossible. Clark's often spends large amounts of funds and time in obtaining critical replacement parts. These parts often have to be reproduced or custom-made. Our support as Corvair customers is critical to these Corvair specialty vendors to keep their businesses healthy.

The videos offered by Clark's below are informative and reveal just how difficult and complicated it often is to reproduce parts that could not be obtained for your Corvair otherwise. I would suggest taking the time to view the Clark's videos...


Clark's Corvair Parts
http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/pages.cgi

CLARK'S CORVAIR PARTS TOUR — VIDEOS
viewtopic.php?f=81&t=6004&p=41108#p41108


Corvair 1 (Formerly Rafee Corvair)
http://www.corvair1.com/


California Corvair Parts
http://californiacorvairparts.com/


Corvair Ranch (New and Used Parts, Machine Shop, etc.)
http://www.corvairranch.com/

[SyntheticBlnkerFluid]

I agree about reproduction parts, but things like wear items (spark plugs, brake shoes, oil filters, air filters, etc) can be had for a much more reasonable price and had faster than waiting several days for Fed Ex to show up.

I am grateful for places like Clarks, Corvair Ranch, and California Corvairs. I also appreciate all the shops that specialize in Corvair repair.

I have said here and other places, it doesn't hurt to use large vendors for small things that aren't exactly unique to the Corvair, but when it comes to more specific parts (carb kits, spark plug wires, engine parts, etc) that could be had by both large vendors and Corvair vendors, it probably be better to get those parts from the Corvair vendors because they get some feedback from customers to let them know what works and what doesn't and they usually carry better quality parts than the large vendors.


Sent from my iPhone using Corvair Forum mobile app

[SteveH]

I 100% agree on supporting Corvair vendors, but I also feel that If we take our consumables orders to them only, our local FLAPS will continue to drop parts from their stocked parts list...

[bbodie52]

...but I also feel that If we take our consumables orders to them only, our local FLAPS will continue to drop parts from their stocked parts list...

I would be much-more concerned about keeping the Corvair specialty vendor's small businesses financially healthy. We are their only customers and if their customer support base weakens the Corvair suppliers may become extinct. The income from our purchases also helps to provide them with enough financial support so that they can reinvest in inventory and reproduction parts.

Mail order may be slightly more inconvenient than a local purchase, but most FLAPS are unlikely to maintain Corvair-specific parts on their local shelves. Many items that they may list in their catalog databases are likely to be stored in a central warehouse -- which makes a shipping delay a part of the purchase.

Better to buy from Clark's and other Corvair specialists to provide them with consistent customer support. If the local FLAPS fails to maintain a local Corvair inventory due to a lack of demand, the impact on a Corvair owner is negligible. But what would we do if Clark's Corvair Parts went out of business??? That would be a global disaster!!

[SyntheticBlnkerFluid]

If you're going to get into an argument about consumables, it doesn't make a difference where you get them from, because at some point the manufacturers of those parts can decide that they do not want to produce that part anymore because they feel they aren't making a profit on them. That's what happened with AC-Delco PF-4 oil filters, which was the #1 consumable on Corvairs.

Clarks and the other Vendors get plenty of customer support on a daily basis from us regarding much more expensive parts than spark plugs and oil filters. At the end of the day, those aren't the items that will keep them in business.


Sent from my iPhone using Corvair Forum mobile app

[tommy44432]

I will ALWAYS buy from the cheapest vendor for my parts. If Clark's has the part I need and no one else has it of course I will buy from them. However GM shared many of their parts across its lines. Since I have spent a great many of my 68 years restoring GM cars I know who supplies what and who is cheaper. With their being only a handful of factories supplying restoration parts to vendors such as Clark's Corvair, Lutty's Chevys, Classic Industries. etc. the quality of any given part is usually not an issue since these vendors buy from the same sources. I do know for a fact Clark's sells most of its aftermarket reproduction parts at a larger markup than others. I do not mind a supplier making a profit but believe if Lutty's can make a profit at their price then Clarks is taking advantage of the customer. I have mentioned this before and been taken to task for it but I stand firm in my beliefs. One only has to look at the prices Clarks pays for used parts and the prices they then charge for the same part as a resale to see that they make a lot of money. Again, if Clarks is the ONLY source for my parts needs I will buy from them. In that case we are slaves to their pricing structure. I will always check multiple suppliers otherwise.